Place 1 cup of water and the sugar into a deep saucepan. Add in the halved cherries and place over a medium heat.
Bring to a boil, stirring frequently and boil for 10-12 minutes until the cherries have softened and become mushy. You can also help them along with a masher, still boil the mixture for 10-12 minutes though to really get that cherry flavour into the simple syrup!
Place the lime juice and still/sparkling water into a large jug. It needs to hold over 1 litre of mixture, I used my giant Le Creuset jug.
After cooking for 10-12 minutes, take the cherry simple syrup off of the heat and place a sieve over your jug. Gently pour the cherry mixture through the sieve and then use the back of a spoon to gently squish every ounce of cherry juice from the cherries.
Stir your cherry limeade, place it in the fridge to chill for two hours and then you're ready to serve. Throw some ice cubes into a mason jar, pour yourself a glass, pop in a lime slice and a cherry on the rim of the glass and enjoy!
Homemade Cherry Limeade will keep covered in the fridge for 5 days. I store mine in a carafe as it fits in the door of the fridge. You can also double the recipe and place in a big drinks dispenser to take to picnics/barbecues! Don't add any ice until you're ready to serve.
To make Cherry Lemonade, replace the lime juice with 1/2 cup (120ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice.
You can use still or sparkling water in this recipe - it depends on what you prefer.